Cardinal DiNardo: Church must address moral failures of judgment

By Catholic News Service

8/02/18

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said the U.S. Catholic Church must take steps to respond to the "moral failures of judgment" of its leaders. CNS

WASHINGTON — Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick "will rightly
face" a Vatican canonical process regarding sexual abuse allegations
against him, but the U.S. Catholic Church must take steps to respond to church
leaders' "moral failures of judgment," said the president of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The accusations against Archbishop McCarrick, a former cardinal
and retired archbishop of Washington, "reveal a grievous moral failure
within the church," said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.

"They cause bishops anger, sadness, and shame; I know they
do in me," he said in an Aug. 1 statement. "They compel bishops to
ask, as I do, what more could have been done to protect the people of God. Both
the abuses themselves, and the fact that they have remained undisclosed for
decades, have caused great harm to people's lives and represent grave moral
failures of judgment on the part of church leaders."

To determine a course of action for the USCCB to take, Cardinal
DiNardo said he convened the bishops' Executive Committee.

"This meeting was the first of many among bishops that will
extend into our Administrative Committee meeting in September and our general
assembly in November," he explained. "All of these discussions will
be oriented toward discerning the right course of action for the USCCB."

Such work will "take some time," but he laid out four
points to be acted upon immediately:

— He encouraged each bishop in their diocese "to respond
with compassion and justice to anyone who has been sexually abused or harassed
by anyone in the church. We should do whatever we can to accompany them."

— He urged anyone who has experienced sexual assault or
harassment by anyone in the church to come forward. "Where the incident
may rise to the level of a crime, please also contact local law
enforcement."

— The USCCB "will pursue the many questions surrounding
Archbishop McCarrick's conduct to the full extent of its authority; and where
that authority finds its limits, the conference will advocate with those who do
have the authority. One way or the other, we are determined to find the truth
in this matter."

— "Finally, we bishops recognize that a spiritual conversion
is needed as we seek to restore the right relationship among us and with the
Lord. Our church is suffering from a crisis of sexual morality. The way forward
must involve learning from past sins."

Cardinal DiNardo said the failures of judgment by church leaders
in the case of Archbishop McCarrick "raise serious questions."

"Why weren't these allegations of sins against chastity and
human dignity disclosed when they were first brought to church officials?"
he asked. "Why wasn't this egregious situation addressed decades sooner
and with justice? What must our seminaries do to protect the freedom to discern
a priestly vocation without being subject to misuse of power?"

In conclusion, he asked all to "pray for God's wisdom and
strength for renewal as we follow St. Paul's instruction: 'Do not conform
yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you
may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and
perfect.'"

On July 28, Pope Francis accepted the resignation from the
College of Cardinals of then-Cardinal McCarrick and ordered him to maintain
"a life of prayer and penance" until a canonical trial examines
accusations that he sexually abused minors.

In late June, the 88-year-old prelate said he would no longer
exercise any public ministry "in obedience" to the Vatican after an
allegation he abused a teenager 47 years ago in the Archdiocese of New York was
found credible. The cardinal has said he is innocent.

In the weeks that followed the announcement, another man came
forward claiming he was abused as a child by Archbishop McCarrick, and several
former seminarians have spoken out about being sexually harassed by the
cardinal at a beach house he had. In other developments, two New Jersey
dioceses where he served in the 1980s and 1990s said settlements had been
reached some years before in a couple of cases of abuse claims made against
him.

He was the founding bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New
Jersey, in 1981, then headed the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, before
being named to Washington in 2001.